Amazon announces plans to build $90M warehouse in Middletown, Del.

AP File PhotoAmazon.com says it will build a $90M warehouse in Middletown, Del. after talks of a deal in New Jersey raised ire from the business community and some legislators.

Internet retailer Amazon.com announced today it will spend $90 million to build a giant distribution center in Delaware.

New Jersey lawmakers say it’s unclear whether yesterday’s announcement will have any effect on their talks with the company about two warehouses it wants to open here.

Amazon has not returned phone calls from The Star-Ledger.

The 1.2 million-square-foot Delaware warehouse, which Amazon said in a press release will create 850 full-time jobs, will be subsidized by nearly $7.5 million in state grants and a $1 million real estate tax abatement deal between Amazon and Middletown, Del., where the warehouse will be built.

If the company still wants to move into New Jersey, State Sen. Raymond Lesniak said, he hopes it will change its terms.

Amazon has said it wants a 22-month sales tax holiday in exchange for two 1.2 million square foot facilities that would create 1,500 jobs according to State Assembly Democratic Leader Lou Greenwald, who’s been involved with the talks.

Greenwald could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Lesniak is sponsoring a bill, S-1305, that would require online retailers like Amazon to collect sales taxes.

"In my opinion it’s totally irrelevant because what we’re asking for, or at least what I’m asking Amazon to do, is pay the state taxes that are already due," he said when reached by phone yesterday. "I’ve been told that in order to build a warehouse in New Jersey, Amazon is demanding that they get tax amnesty until 2014. That’s just obviously, totally unacceptable."

He said he wants to protect businesses who already "We would love to have an Amazon distribution center in New Jersey, but not at the expense of the people in the state and not at the expense of jobs at retailers who are already established here."

In Delaware, state officials sweetened the deal for Amazon with nearly $7.5 million in state grants to subsidize the project while Middletown agreed to give the company a $1 million real estate tax abatement.

Middletown, located about 20 miles south of U.S. Interstate 95, has experienced a boom in the last decade. The town’s population has increased by more than 200 percent according to a recent U.S. Geological Survey, as land annexations have made property available for business development.

Deleware does not collect any sales tax. New Jersey’s current sales tax rate is 7 percent.

"We welcome Amazon’s expansion in Delaware, which will mean a significant number of jobs for many skilled and talented Delewareans who want to get to work," said Gov. Jack Markell.

Markell cited the deal with Amazon during his state of the state address last month, using the development to rally support for the Delaware Strategic Fund program which approved a $3.47 million of the grants subsidizing Amazon’s investment.